Open Chat... All Day, Every Day! Express Your Views, Debate, and Challenge the Views of Others!

In order to keep up with the nature of free, spirited debate, I wanted to place the chat feature at the top of the homepage. This ensures people can come here and share their views on anything they wish and not have it be related to any specific discussion. Here, people can share ideas, links, and views "unmoderated" and an their own pace. To me, this makes The Elephant in the Room blog truly a place for debate.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

I'm not going to say much here, but I think this is absolutely ridiculous. We all seem to understand that Fox News is pretty conservative, MSNBC is to the left, and CNN was supposed to be somewhere in the middle, but lately it seems that CNN is hammering us with more anti-Romney reporting than anti-Obama articles. I haven't quantified this yet (maybe I will start a count), but the following example seems to show exactly what I'm talking about: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/politics/romney-unicorn/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

This joke of a story made the front page (click image for pop-up view):

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Now that Mitt Romney has enough delegates to be named the GOP's presidential candidate, can we all let out a collective "whew?" Of course, this isn't a "finally, it's over" whew, but a "whew" that says we can finally wipe our brow and move on to the next challenging phase of this daunting process.

Regardless, a big question still remains: will the GOP unite around Romney? I ask this because I find two damaging things to be apparent right now:

- To all those heading out on this holiday weekend, be safe! And, as it is Memorial Day, we remember, honor, and are thankful to all the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live in the land off freedom and have our daily news and political discussions. Thank you!

Did Anderson Cooper do it again? A few weeks ago I wrote about Anderson Cooper taking on a Moveon.org editor and their face claim that the GOP is waging a "war on women" (Link). This time Cooper takes on Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt about Team Obama using Mitt Romney's time at Bain capital against Romney while Obama accepts donations from private equity firms. I don't care what side you're on; truth is the most important thing. Regardless of Cooper's normal political platform (many claim he is left, but probably not as strong left as most), it is good to see him fighting the fight for truth. Watch the video, and see for yourself.

Monday, May 21, 2012

But it seems political loyalty is being taken to a whole new level. For example, in the past 14 days, President Obama expressed his support for same-sex marriage. As he became the first sitting president to do this, many of his closest followers expressed their disappointment with his announcement. Many black leaders communicated publicly that they were outraged with the president's decision. But what happened? Most said they will still support Obama. Sure, political affiliation comprises more than one social or economic issue, but it seems that with most supporters Obama can do no wrong. To further this, over the weekend, the N.A.A.C.P. announced that they now support same-sex marriage. In their statement, they claim they passed the resolution "endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil
right and opposing any efforts 'to codify discrimination or hatred into the
law.'" So, for the last 103 years, they were okay with it... until Obama said he wasn't? Please... this has absolutely nothing to do with gay marriage. It has everything to do with blindly following and political pandering. See the Fox News article here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/19/naacp-backs-same-sex-marriage-as-civil-right/

Friday, May 18, 2012

I found it to be quite interesting, so I wanted to open up a debate about it. Many people talk about "money in politics" and campaign finance as a major problem, but, I'm not sure anyone knows how to "fix" it. I'm also not sure anyone understands what the "problem" really is. With regards to Granderson's write-up, I don't think I've read an article in recent memory that had me go from full agreement to complete disagreement and everywhere in between in one piece.

I submitted this to start a discussion about a topic that has been on my mind for probably about 10 years now. I've always wondered about democrats, and instead of spinning my head in circles, I decided to post a discussion topic on one of my favorite blogs to help get some answers. Maybe you guys can clear this up for me. This isn't a major analysis, or a rant, but some simple observation-based questions. Again, I'd like to open up a discussion, and I'm glad I can do it here. If this is too controversial for you, please go on to the next posting.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

I guess you can say it's controversy time. Yesterday, in an exclusive interview, President Obama became the first U.S. President to explicitly endorse same-sex marriage. Check out the video from ABC news here:

This is a complicated issue, and there are reasons I, ME, am personally writing about it. Let me start by saying that as a social media user, immediately after the announcement, I noticed thousands of Facebook updates about this both for and against the President's new position. It was because of these posts that I decided to write about it. The posts made me realize that this, along with many, many other issues, will be misconstrued, misunderstood, and blasted all over the news and social media world. Ugh.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

First off, a HUGE bravo to Anderson Cooper for standing up for truth. Partisan politics aside, the position of this blog from the beginning has been to stand up for truth and fact above all things. Cooper's recent reports highlighting the democrats' often false and over-exaggerated claims about the GOP waging a war on women is precisely the kind of journalism we stand for. We often rail on the mainstream media for the spinning and misrepresentation of facts, but Anderson Cooper's stance on this specific issue is a breath of fresh air. He takes on the democrats' (and Moveon.org's) claims and argues for truth in journalism, campaigning, and politics. Below are 2 clips that show what we're talking about.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

May Day has come and gone, and the OWS movement will continue to march and protest the "atrocities" of the "1% against the 99%"........ for whatever that means. Now that this day has passed, and the protests have subsided, in the spirit of civil debate, I wanted to put this article front and center:

It is by Fortune Magazine senior editor Nina Easton, and to me, it preaches to the choir. This blog is about expressing views and engaging in civil, respectful, and insightful debate. That's why I'm posting this article. I think an open dialogue is a good thing, and the sharing of personal beliefs and opinions should be beneficial to all involved.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Remember Joe the Plumber? In case you don't, his name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, and he became a household (and campaign-wide name) in 2008 when he bravely asked then-candidate Barack Obama about his tax plan. See the Youtube clip here:

Here we are in 2012, and Joe the Plumber is running for Congress representing Ohio's 9th district. I don't know him personally, but I admire his determination. To me, running for Congress says, "I want to change something, and bygone it, I'm going to do it."

Speech Overview: President Obama announced that he signed an agreement with the Afghan government to remove combat troops from Afghanistan by 2014, and to have a continuing military presence there until 2024. The speech lasted approximately ten minutes and highlighted a staggered troop withdrawal to be executed over the next 2½ years.
For the most part, I agree with the President on this. There is one main area of concern that I have. In the speech, President Obama said:

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

I don't support the Occupy Wall Street movement... not one bit. I honestly don't think they have any clue about what they're protesting. It seems they live their world in a fantasy land, and when challenged for facts, they can rarely give you the "meat and potatoes" behind their positions. I believe they rant and chant because they want attention, and because it feels good to appear to be part of a "cause." I believe they are entitled, "gimme, gimme, gimme" loons who have no clue how finance, economics, labor, Wall Street, and everything of the like work and coexist.

That being said, I completely defend and support their right to peaceably assemble and protest. PEACEABLY is the key. This post is not about the who, what, when, where, or why OWS is protesting; it's about the how. To start off, The First Amendment, our most sacred amendment states:

The Herd

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